Do you want learn how to apply concepts of sustainable faecal sludge management (FSM) on a city-wide scale? This course starts with an overview of what faecal sludge is and an introduces you to the engineering fundamentals and required information for the design and selection of technologies. Sanitation solutions are prone to failure if an integrated planning approach that includes stakeholder involvement and the development of appropriate institutional, management and financial arrangements is not implemented. The course therefore dedicates a complete week to presenting the full picture, in addition to technology, that needs to be considered for sustainable solutions. It concludes with a focus on current research and innovations in technologies, to provide an understanding of the most up-to-date options.
This course is one of four in the series “Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development".

Enseigné par

Dr. Linda Strande

Group leader

Transcription

Following Week 3, are you ready to start considering what type of treatment technologies are appropriate in your city? Important concepts that you learned this week for evaluating appropriate treatment technologies include the level of technology development: established, transferring or innovative. We have grouped technologies as established if there is enough operating experience, the design considerations and operations and maintenance requirements are established and can be recommended. We have grouped technologies as transferring, if knowledge is currently being transferred from other sectors like waste water treatment. And we have grouped technologies as innovative if they show promise but are in the research and development phase. These distinctions are very important because they will have a direct impact on implementation and the required level of management and partnerships for scaling up, such as private partner partnerships or with research institutes. Another important concept that you learned is about linking treatment technologies by their treatment objectives. Frequently a treatment chain will include a combination of treatment technologies, depending on the overall treatment objectives. This was also illustrated in the design example of the Lubigi Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant in Kampala, Uganda. This is why in the engineering design approach the first steps include defining treatment objectives so that you know what you are designing treatment technologies for. Once you have defined treatment end goals or resource recovery options then you can simultaneously consider the treatment objectives necessary to achieve them together with the level of technology development, which is important for the associated level of required management. This week, you learned about treatment processes for six different established technologies, operations and maintenance requirements and design parameters. These were settling-thickening tanks, unplanted drying beds, planted drying beds, co-composting, cotreatment with waste water and effluent treatment technologies. In Week 5, we will continue to learn more about treatment technologies, specifically technologies that are in the transferring and innovative categories. It is always equally as important to consider the fate of effluent from treatment processes and how to safely manage it. Starting at the level of on-site containment technologies, from the supernatant of septic tanks, up to centralized treatment facilities. What treatment technologies do you think are appropriate in your city? Can you think of any that you would consider established, that we did not include here? Please add your thoughts on the discussion forum and please also do not forget to visit the additional resources on the platform website. So now that you have an understanding of faecal sludge management, treatment objectives, and fundamentals and treatment technologies in Week 4 we're going to switch gears and focus on an integrated approach. How to incorporate all of the design variables and planning and management aspects that are necessary to create an enabling environment. A groundwork that includes legal, organizational, financial, political and cultural aspects. You will learn about a planning framework, why it's important to fit participatory stakeholder processes within traditional project cycles and to engage and work together with stakeholders. Other concepts will include understanding the initial context, setting up legal and regulatory frameworks to define clear roles and responsibilities. How to consider different models of financial transfers that are necessary at each step of the service chain. And incorporating management and operations and maintenance concerns from the beginning of the project planning. And finally, how to compare the equivalent cost of different technology options. Thanks for joining, see you next week.